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Shaolin pt. 1
“Did you two spend the whole night fighting?” Scarlett asked the next morning when she saw the two men had become a lot closer. Nangong Heewon laughed aloud and gently pounded Sung-Min’s shoulder with his fist.
“Alcohol, a night together and a friendly competition is all men need to become friends.”
“That sounds good and all, but the part about ‘spending the night together’ sounds strange to me. I hope you didn’t do anything weird.” Scarlett remarked, squinting her eyes as she glanced them over. Sung-Min looked disgusted and shook his head feverishly.
Unlike Sung-Min who had caught on quickly, Nangong Heewon looked confused.
“We just spent the night together. What does she mean by doing something weird?” He asked.
“Senior brother. Please don’t ask pointless questions.”
“No, seriously. I’m asking because I don’t understand. Do you know what she means, younger brother?”
Sung Min didn’t answer. Nangong Heewon still didn’t understand and looked confused, and Scarlett didn’t explain what she had met either.
“But anyways, we’re brothers now.”
“Lucky you,” Scarlett said, turning to Sung Min, “you’ve bonded with the young master of the Nangong household. At least you won’t starve.”
Being the prestigious family they were, the Nangong household had influence all over the land of Eria. It was to the point where one would be treated well if they claimed to be from the family and was able to prove it. Of course, this didn’t apply everywhere. In the areas where the Shafa had risen to power, having connections with the Nangong household wouldn’t be deemed upon as favorable.
The three headed out the West Gate in the direction of Mount Song. Mount Song was not very big, nor was it dangerous to approach. Sung -Min couldn’t understand why the monk Bodhidharma, the founder of Shaolin, would want to name such a small mountain ‘Mount Song’ and build Shaolin there.
“Old age must have made him senile,” Scarlet muttered, taking a sip of water. Sungmin couldn’t help agreeing to himself and Nangong Heewon burst out laughing.
It had only been a day since they had met and become companions on this journey but Sung-Min liked this so-called Nangong Heewon a lot. Despite being a young master of a prestigious household, he was easygoing.
“You said you were committed to an old promise with Great Master Bul-Young. May I ask what he did in your favor?”
“Looks like you were curious. Why didn’t you ask me before?”
“I thought it would somewhat be rude to ask when we weren’t even friends yet.”
“Right. And I wouldn’t have given an answer either if you had asked. But I will now.” Namgoong Heewon smiled.
“The family lines of Nangong, Zhuge, Murong, and Tang have heirs in each family. We’re all similar in age and skill.”
“Right.”
“When we were a lot younger, the head of each household decided to unite us in one group. Kind of like those martial sects. We had a name too. The Sky Dragon Sect. But a problem arose as soon once we tried to form our group. All the heads of the families had similar skills. The other households could rise up if there was to be a leader, but there wasn’t one good enough to choose as a leader either.
Being a master of a prestigious family meant being the head of the household with the best skills. Just as Nam Koong Baek of the Heavenly Swords was the grandmaster of the Nangong family, other households had masters of their own.
“So this is what they decided to do. They decided to leave it to the next generation. They all had children, so they decided to raise their kids well and choose the best as the head of the Sky Dragon Sect. And our witness of that vow is the currently the Grand Monk of Shaolin, ‘monster’ Monk Bul-yeong.
Sung-Min hadn’t known any of this had happened, even in his previous life. That was because he didn’t have any connections with the prestigious households in his former life, nor did the Sky Dragon Sect exist until his death.
‘That means they’ll be competing against each other for at least eight years.’
Who would win and become the master of the Sky Dragon Sect? Just like the proverb that says men are blind in their own cause, Sung-Min secretly hoped that Nangong would be the master of the Sky Dragon Sect.
Before they knew it, they arrived at the doors of Shaolin located in Mount Song as they were having this conversation. Mount Song was small, but the gates to the mountain weren’t. Sung-Min felt overwhelmed by the tall gates and hesitantly took a few steps back. Scarlett let out a sound of exclamation and nodded.
“If the gates are that big, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable trying to close them?”
“We’re not the ones closing it, so it doesn’t matter.” Nangong said and walked up the stairs. Sung-Min and Scarlett followed. Sung-Min gripped the Hundred Step Manual, the Ahrat Step Manual and the Dharma Cultivation manual, which he had taken out of his bag in beforehand.
“It’s been a while. Young Master Nangong.”
The monk that had been guarding the gates bowed deeply. Light shone on the perfectly hairless head and hit Scarlett in the eye, making her scowl.
“So I have. Have the other heirs arrived?”
“They have all arrived yesterday. You, Young Master Nangong, have arrived the latest.” The monk said, twirling his beads. It wasn’t a sneering tone, but it was true that Nangong had arrived late.
Sung-Min stole a glance at Nangong, thinking he himself was to blame. Nangong, however, didn’t seem to be bothered at all and smiled as if he didn’t care.
“I had my reasons. There was an enjoyable interaction.”
“Is it because of these two you have brought with you?” The monk stole a glance at Sung-Min and Scarlett. He didn’t seem to care about Scarlett, who was female, but looked at Sung-Min differently. Sung-Min felt the monk’s attention was on him and couldn’t help greeting him with a bow.
“That’s right.”